


Spectra

by tigriswolf



Series: poetry [148]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Betrayal, Character Death, Dysfunctional Family, Fairy Tale Elements, Family Drama, Gen, Intrigue, Mystery, Poetry, Poison, Princes & Princesses, Royalty, Sibling Rivalry, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-21 07:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21295787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: ... honestly, i'm not sure how to describe this. but there's royalty, family drama, court intrigue, and suspense, told in 26 stanzas of 3 lines each, focused on a princess after her brother's suspicious ascension to the throne.
Series: poetry [148]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/278262
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Spectra  
Written: October 18, 2019 – October 27, 2019
> 
> so, i wanted to write a poem for each letter of the English alphabet, and then i decided to find colors that began with each letter of the alphabet, and then i briefly plotted out what the poems would be... and then i wrote this, starting with A and ending with Z, in order and with revisions after deciding that each poem would be 3 lines long, no more and no less. I'll be posting this in 13 chapters of 2 stanzas each. 
> 
> another note: some of the colors are familiar; others, i'm pretty sure, seem fake but i promise the internet told me they're real. though the colors did inspire each stanza, some of the interpretations are more obvious than others.

**Amethyst**

Not so royal, this one—  
Too soft, too kind, glittering  
gently rather than convincingly commanding.

**Burgundy**

Faded stains on frayed cloth—  
Wine or blood, spilt accidentally  
or in a covetous son’s coup?


	2. Chapter 2

**Coral**

The walls shimmer, a fragile shine,  
and she closes her eyes,  
remembering the sting of the sea—

**Dun**

Dull brown, her hair, like her favorite horse, not  
beautiful like a princess, a peasant’s shade—the  
biting wind, the horse’s nicker, her scant taste of freedom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Emerald**

She tells no one of the empty vial by  
her father’s favorite chair in his favorite study or  
how the tonic in it glowed a poisonous green.

**Fuchsia**

Her gown at the coronation, chosen by her brother’s  
wife, is garish, jarring, overshadowed by the  
queen-to-be’s elegant beauty and demure façade.


	4. Chapter 4

**Gold**

Every morning,  
sunrise  
surprises her.

**Honeydew**

She hides in her childhood nursery—  
out of sight, out of mind,  
for there is safety in being forgotten.


	5. Chapter 5

**Indigo**

Not even a spare to the heir—A girlchild of royalty is  
currency, to purchase alliances, to secure land. She only has the power  
granted her by blood, and the cloth she weaves is ever darker.

**Jade**

Drips from shards of  
vial after vial—Such  
magic leaves deep scars.


	6. Chapter 6

**Kiwi**

At the banquet table, meeting the queen’s gaze,  
the king’s only living sibling raises the exotic  
fruit to her lips and daintily bites in.

**Lilac**

She never whispers the  
truth of what she knows,  
not even a murmur on the dusk’s wind.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mint**

It reminds her of the  
ocean,  
as she holds it to the light.

**Nickel**

The crown gleams on  
the king’s dark hair—  
It should be stained with red.


	8. Chapter 8

**Onyx**

Night lingers, and the  
months drag on, and she  
dreams, she dreams—

**Peach**

At the feast for Spring’s arrival, the cook prepares  
the old king’s favorite. The king’s sister nearly sobs  
as the taste bursts onto her tongue.


	9. Chapter 9

**Quartz**

The queen watches possessively as the ambassadors  
present their gifts—the most exquisite pieces only for  
her, even the ones not to her taste.

**Raspberry**

The wine shimmers in the light;  
she toasts to her brother,  
wishing the king a long life.


	10. Chapter 10

**Saffron**

Her sister-in-law offers her out-of-season, secondhand  
gowns, asserting her place as queen. The king chuckles  
as the princess defiantly chooses the ugliest of them all.

**Teal**

She tilts the vial.  
Gradually, the liquid pools out  
and she smiles.


	11. Chapter 11

**Umber**

Boring dull eyes, boring dull  
hair—unnoticeable, forgettable,  
lurking, lying in wait.

**Viridian**

“Is it not delicious, sister?” the princess  
asks the queen sweetly, gently taking  
back the empty glass.


	12. Chapter 12

**Wine**

As Spring becomes Summer, the queen fades, wasting away in her  
chambers. The king rages at the healers—but the queen dies  
in the beginning of Autumn, without bearing the king an heir.

**Xiketic**

“Your Majesty,” the king’s sister  
murmurs, curtsying as daintily as she  
can, garbed in the shades of royalty.


	13. Chapter 13

**Yellow**

As the year turns, the king falls  
ill with the same affliction as his  
wife—and before her, his father.

**Zaffre**

The newly-crowned queen sits on her father’s throne and proclaims  
a long mourning period for her beloved predecessors—in one  
hand her scepter and in the other, a gleaming vial.


End file.
